GGD-95-73: Published: Mar 16, 1995. Publicly Released: Mar 16, 1995.

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GAO provided information on the Customs Service's efforts to address weaknesses that GAO identified in its 1993 High Risk Series report on Customs' management.

GAO found that Customs has: (1) revised its planning process to set priorities for trade enforcement; (2) improved controls over the identification and collection of duties, taxes, fees, and penalties; (3) reorganized its debt collection unit and more aggressively pursued receiveables; and (4) reorganized to correct institutional problems and increase cooperation and coordination among Customs units. GAO also found that Customs still needs to: (1) adopt best practices from other private and public organizations to better manage its financial and information resources; (2) resolve its inability to detect and prevent duplicate or excessive claims for refunds; (3) better prevent and detect unauthorized access to sensitive data and computer programs; (4) improve guidance and oversight to ensure that its staff complies with existing procedures; (5) implement new control procedures; and (6) properly analyze data to be included in financial management reports.